The Necessity of Covenant

Covenant is essential to Unitarian Universalist congregations. It is created by the promises that we make with each other, with the world, and the divine. Alice Blair Wesley says we are “promising creatures.” I love that phrase and its double meaning. We are people of great promise and people who make promises. Jewish theologian Martin Buber reminds us that humans are “promise-making, promise-keeping, promise-breaking, promise-renewing.” Without promises it is hard to conceive that we could even imagine a future, let alone bring it into being. Through promises, we create a future, and by the keeping of those promises, we bring the future into the present. If we lived in a utopia with all needs satisfied, all social ills redeemed, and all injustices made right, there would be no need for promises. We do not. There are chasms that separate us from the world we would create. Promises are one of the tools that we use to build bridges to that world. But not all promises are kept, or can be kept. A French writer, Francois duc de la Rochefoucauld, said that, “We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears.” Better to perform according to our loves.

Individualism in Unitarian Universalism is either our original sin or our idol, a false God. Without covenant, the needs of the individual will always trump the needs of the religious community. We have mastered individualism, but not individualism in community. Covenant teaches us, as we practice it week-in and week-out, how to be an individual in community. It invites us to surrender some of our individual needs to the greater good of the congregation. Covenant calls us to be in right relationship with each other, and when those relationships become frayed, as they inevitably will, to repair the relationship.

Living in covenant is not easy for we must ask, “What does love require?” Our doctrine of love requires intention and skill, discipline and risk, trust and forgiveness, connection and care, listening and more listening, humility and the presumption of goodwill, compassion and sympathy, valuing diversity and practicing radical hospitality, honesty while speaking the truth in love, as well as the work of justice and spiritual maturity. It requires that we share our stories so we can enter into the depth of each other’s lives and see each other, not with the hard eyes of judgment, but with the soft eyes of respect.

Living in covenant is not easy, but it has the power to transform. We must be willing to practice seventy times seven, to fail seventy times seven, to forgive seventy times seven. Eventually, we will learn how to do it and as more and more of us live in covenant, we will be transformed and transforming.

A covenant is dynamic, inviting those who share in it to new possibilities by taking risks that seek to expand and deepen the beloved community. Preston Moore, a Unitarian Universalist minister, concludes that, “The measure of this openheartedness is the magnitude of the risks accepted, the surprises welcomed,” the successes achieved, and the failures endured. No one intends to fail or let another person down, but sometimes, despite our best efforts, that is precisely what happens. If the covenant cannot endure failure, then we must question its power as well as our commitment to it. Covenant rightly understood and rightly lived takes into account human imperfection and failing, as well as generosity of spirit and our capacity for goodness.

We are a covenantal religion, not creedal. Covenant is the center-point of our congregations, but for too long we ignored this reality. After the Unitarians and Universalists merged in 1961, we seemed to lose our way. Again and again there were programs designed to articulate a Unitarian Universalist identity. We grappled with the challenge of what we held in common since we were not gathered around shared belief. We forgot that the glue was covenant. We found ourselves gathering because we were like-minded. Our churches felt like a liberal oasis in an illiberal desert, a desert that we found antithetical to our deepest sensibilities. While we would have rebelled at being told what to believe, we found respite in this like-mindedness.

An aspect of this like-mindedness was a fierce individuality, which we struggled, often unsuccessfully, to balance with the idea and ideal of community. The weak force of community could not achieve equilibrium with the strong force of individuality, and many of our congregations failed to thrive.

Looking back it becomes clear that like-mindedness was never adequate to bind us together. Too often disagreements would emerge, polarities that could not be managed or resolved: theist versus humanist, rational versus spiritual, collective social action as a congregation versus social action by individuals outside of the church. Our congregations cannot thrive if we are only like-minded, for we will always find sources of disagreement. More is needed. Since love is the doctrine of our church, we must become like-hearted in order to flourish.

For Unitarian Universalism, covenant is the alpha and the omega.

Within Native American traditions, the drum is used in ceremonies because the rhythmic beat of the drum symbolizes the heartbeat of the tribe. Covenant is our drum.

The Torah within Judaism is sacred and portions of it are read each week in the Sabbath service. It illuminates the ancient covenant between the people of Israel and Yahweh. Covenant is our Torah.

Islam is built on five pillars which include surrender to Allah, daily prayers, charity, and pilgrimage to Mecca. Covenant is our pillar.

Buddhists pursue enlightenment by committing to the eightfold path, which includes right intent, right action, and right mindfulness. Covenant is our path.

In Taoism, the Tao is the experience of harmony and is often called the “way.” Covenant is our “way.”

Hinduism understands “atman” as being the divine spark within each individual, which is related to Brahman, the godhead. Covenant is atman.

Finally, Unitarian Minister A. Powell Davies said, “The purpose of life is to grow a soul.” The purpose of covenant is to grow the soul of a congregation.

Covenant is a promise to love, to care, to walk together, to work together, to do justice together, to pray together, to learn together, to grow together, to laugh and grieve together, to build the beloved community together.